The Horse Collar

Big Mac leaned back against an apple tree and sighed. This orchard used to be such a peaceful place for him, but now it left him with a feeling of unease.

The sun was shining. The breeze was gentle, but cool. The birds were chirping. In his basket there was an ice cold glass of lemonade. Everything was perfect, but Big Mac couldn't be happy.

He turned his hoof to look at the black vial he was holding. It was small and angular in appearance, made of thick, resilient glass, engraved, and painted with gold to bear similar marks as those on his horse collar. He looked at it with a sigh.

"This has to be yer choice, sugar cube. It's important to me that y'all be the one to choose," Applejack had told him when she gave it to him.

He sighed again. He had been told that his sister was the embodiment of honesty, and dependability, and that it rose to the level of magic. Was this some kind of test? She could have just slipped it into his lemonade, and that would have been that. Was Applejack the avatar of honesty, giving him some chance to show his true colors?

And, how did she know? How did she know that he would be reluctant to make a decision. His morning with pinkie pie had been playing in his mind over and over. It made him happy. She made him happy. That scared him. It was more than just making love to somepony when he had no feelings of love. He did have feelings of love. He had feelings for Fluttershy.

He sighed again, and brought his hoof to his chest, pressing the vial softly toward his heart. He stared at the slowly rustling leaves of the apple tree that was shielding him from the harsh summer sun. He took in a deep breath and held it for a moment.

He heard soft hoofsteps moving through the grass toward him. "Ick! So muddy," Rarity mumbled.

Big Mac's deep breath came out of him in one exasperated groan as he looked down to see an immaculately kept unicorn tiptoeing around mud puddles in his general direction. "You dreadful stallion!"

If Big Mac had any more breath in his lungs to sigh out, it would have crashed out of his body with a lamentable cry of frustration. Somepony else has found out.

"I've been told that Applejack has given you the mistaken impression that Twilight's potion is optional! This will not do. Use it at once." Rarity snapped insistently at Big Mac.

"Afternoon, Rarity."

"Afternoon yourself you-- you-- vile carnal beast." Rarity's voice was rising in pitch the longer she went on.

Big Mac ignored the insult. "Naw why y'all wan' me ta be drinkin' this potion so bad?"

"Hnf. I should think it would be obvious. You're going around using awful perverted magic to score with my friends. Why, I wouldn't be surprised if you had your eyes set on me now!"

Big Mac hadn't thought about it until she mentioned it. He looked her over.

She instantly noticed the nature of his glances and twitched and sputtered with indignation, "My eyes are up here you uncivilized cur!"

Big Mac grit his teeth for a moment. "Rarity, ah ain't gonna abuse the horse collar no more. Ah admit, ah dun wrong, but Fluttershy can tell ya, ah left 'fore I dun any real harm and ah ain't bothered her since. Why y'all botherin' me now?" Big Mac's heroic level of stoicism was finally starting to crack. If anyone was going to make the big gentle lug snap with frustration, it was Rarity.

Rarity cried out, "There's no time to argue! Drink it!" and Big Mac felt his hoof lunge toward his face, trapped in Rarity's magic field. "Rarity! What y'all doin! Stop that! Tha cap's on anyhoo! What in tarnation do ya mean there's no time?"

Big Mac was bowled over, sending the vial flying. Rarity scrambled to catch it up in her magic again once it landed in the grass. Pinkie was standing atop Big Mac now. "I came to save you! Gimmie the vial!" she cried gleefully before starting to buckle and shake at the knees, finally falling down atop Big Mac with a moan.

"Pinkie Pie! What are you doin'? I dun droped it!"

Pinkie Pie sprang up, and scanned around for it, spotting it easily because of Rarity's glowing energy field scooping it up. "There it is!" She lunged for it, struggling with Rarity's energy field until it fizzed and popped, allowing her to make a run for it with the vial in her mouth.

"Land sakes you mares! What in sam hill you doin' now?" Big Mac bellowed with frustration and disbelief.

Big Mac suddenly got a face full of pink-streaked violet tail. He shook his head, trying to get the stars out of his his field of vision from the teleportation wave.

Twilight growled at Pinkie, "Hand it over Pinkie!"

"Nope, mine now!" Pinkie giggled, bouncing on her tail as she bounded around the trees.

Twilight and Rarity nearly slammed into each other while trying to tackle Pinkie, before Twilight finally came to a dust kicking halt and caught Pinkie up in a levitation field.

Twilight smirked with satisfaction. Pinkie wasn't going anywhere now.

Applejack sailed gracefully over the pair of infuriated unicorns, slamming into Pinkie Pie and pushing her out of the levitation spell. She took up a wide legged stance and squinted at the unicorns in defense of Pinkie Pie, "Ah told y'all already! Mac's gonna be the one who gets that there potion an' nopony else!"

Applejack blinked at Twilight and Rarity's shocked faces, staring over her shoulder. She turned around with a blink and saw Pinkie Pie darting into the distance. "Sweet salt lick! Where's she goin' now? Pinkie Pie, ye stop right there, ye hear?!"

Big Mac stared slack jawed as the mares went at it. He scanned about, watching Pinkie Pie gleefully bounding about, giggling all the way with the potion in her mouth. With an airy, bewildered voice, Big Mac asked, "What in the blue blazes?" before wincing with the realization that Pinkie Pie was, by this point, doubling back toward him, bright eyed and bushy tailed.

"Awh horseapp--" he cried as Pinkie Pie slammed into him, clinging tightly. She grabbed the potion in a hoof and cried out, "Now you gotta touch mac if you want it back!" She slipped the potion under the back of Big Mac's horse collar, prompting him to flail about, trying to reach behind him and dig out the potion, or failing that, at least get the quivering pink earth pony off his back.

The three other mares winced as Pinkie Pie started to wail out exaggerated moans, and quiver genuine quakes of lust, squeezed up against Big Mac.

"Ifn' that's what it takes!" Applejack shouted, before springing onto her brother and wrestling with Pinkie Pie.

Big Mac silently begged Celestia to save him.

It wasn't long before Applejack and Pinkie Pie's struggles slowed, and they started to pant, drawing their muzzles in closer to one another. Pinkie came first, twitching violently. Applejack knew what was happening to her cheery pink friend, and her eyes widened at the sight of Pinkie's pleasure. Her cheeks flushed sharply. "G-get off mah bother!" the protested in an airy, half-hearted way.

Twilight and Rarity were smart enough to keep their distance from the three earth ponies, grabbing on to their tails with their magic and trying to haul them apart, but they were seriously entangled.

Applejack finally snapped, crying out, "Ahn it's so good!" and drawing in rapid, puffing breaths. She stretched out so far and firmly that her quivering lips pressed up against Pinkie's, and they shared a slack jawed, trembling kiss as Applejack was shocked by the intensity of her orgasm.

"Awh no sis! Jus' no!" Big Mac groaned.

Fluttershy gently set down just outside the scuffle.

Applejack finally pulled the vial free from the horse collar, and leapt off of Big Mac's back, panting heavily and humming with delight, running a forehoof up and down her chest with a blissful expression.

Pinkie dove off of Big Mac onto Applejack and the battle was joined. Twilight and Rarity finally decided to get their hooves dirty, springing into the pile and fighting to get the vial. Big Mac slowly backed up away from the brawling mares. The vial sprang from the fray, landing on the grass nearby while the mares continued to wrestle, clawing and kicking to inch closer toward it.

Fluttershy made a distressed, "Eep!" and Big Mac turned around to see her staring, wide eyed and trembling at him. He blinked, and looked at his hind legs to see what had gotten Fluttershy so scared.

Big Mac was rock hard now from what just took place on his back, and Fluttershy was genuinely afraid she was going to faint at the sight of it. Still, that wasn't enough for her to take her eyes off of Big Mac's package before he suddenly dropped to the earth, lying down on his chest and belly.

Rainbow Dash landed on the ground with a gentle boom, standing up tall, proudly appreciating her wicked awesome entrance. With a smile she asked, "Hey, why's everyone wrestling? I want to wrestle! What's going on?"

"Rainbow, grab the vial!" Twilight shrieked.

Rainbow raised a brow, squinting the other eye, then she casually walked toward the group of flailing, mane pulling, leg biting mares. She leaned down, and lifted up the vial in her teeth, speaking with her mouth full in reply to Twilight, "This one?"

Twilight struggled to get Pinkie Pie to stop licking her face, crying out in panic at the sticky goopynes of it all. "Yes! Now use it on Big Mac! Quick!"

Rainbow dash was utterly perplexed. What the heck did she mean by 'use it'?

Applejack caught Rarity in a double nelson, and Rarity squealed out at the indignity of it all. "There's mud in my mane!" she wailed with all the composure of a spoiled little filly in a candy store, and just as high in pitch.

Applejack called out, "No Dash! Give it tah me! Or tah Big Mac! Jus do it quick!"

Rainbow Dash's muzzle was suddenly enveloped in a simultaneous wave of white and purple. She dragged her hooves and fluttered her wing to resist, easily keeping herself and the vial from moving very far. "Wait! I'm not gonna give it up if it's something awesome! Is it something awesome?!"

Twilight booted Rarity in the face in the fray, and Rarity squealed, wailing out an over-exagerated cry. Her voice could easily break a wine glass. "Twilight! I'm on your side!"

"Oh my! I'm so sorry Rarity, did I hurt you?" Twilight asked.

Rarity managed to struggle one leg free from Applejack, and she used it to slap-fight with Twilight.

Fluttershy managed an uncharacteristically loud scream.

"Stop!"

The battle came to a sudden halt, with everypony still clinging to each other, staring wide-eyed in unison at Fluttershy.

Fluttershy was fed up. She cried out chastisingly. "You're all being selfish!

"Rarity! I know you mean well, but this is none of your business! You injected yourself into this when nopony asked!

"Sometimes I think you're more interested in gossip and meddling than the feelings of your friends. Just because you're generous, doesn't mean you have to go and try to fix everything every time there's a problem.

"All I ever wanted was for you to listen. You could have just listened!"

The pony melee started slowly disentangling itself, brows furrowing.

"Pinkie Pie! Did you even think of anypony but yourself?

"I wouldn't have stopped you from doing what you did.

"That's not what hurt. What hurt was that nopony cared to talk to me and ask me what my feelings would be!

"After you heard what happened to me, the first thing you did was run to Big Mac hoping for sex, wasn't it?

"And now what are you going to do? You're going to steal Big Mac's potion without even talking to him? Nopony ever judged you for your choices, and now you think it's okay to start making other ponies choices for them?"

Pinkie Pie stepped backwards from what was moments ago a mess of pony bodies, and she dropped to her haunches. She wanted to speak, but Fluttershy wasn't done.

"Twilight! I know you're angry at yourself, but that doesn't mean you should take it out on anypony else. You're not angry at Big Mac. You're angry at yourself!

"I told you, you're not evil, and I mean that, but you're wrong Twilight. You're so wrong, and I should have told you earlier.

"It's not your job to judge yourself. That's Big Mac's job. Did you even tell him you were sorry? Did you tell anypony you were sorry for what you did?

"You hurt somepony, Twilight. You have to face that! Forgive yourself, and ask for forgiveness from others, and know you may never be able to make it better."

Twilight covered her mouth with both forehooves. Tears welled in her eyes.

Rainbow Dash couldn't believe what she was seeing. What in Tartarus had been going on? Her jaw was open so wide now that she dropped the vial.

"And the same goes for you Applejack! Can't you see you're making your brother uncomfortable?

"Don't you realize what you did? You took advantage of him by touching him for your own desires.

"That's what you were doing just now, wasn't it?! You wanted one more chance at him!

"I know you've been feeling guilty about it, but did you tell Big Mac you knew it was wrong? Did you say you were sorry for doing what you did? Are you sorry?"

Applejack developed a pained and angry expression. "Fluttershy... shug'..."

"And you!" Fluttershy turned her frenzied eyes onto Big Mac.

"I love you, Big Mac. I've loved you for a long time," Fluttershy cried out furiously.

Big Mac's eyes pooled up with tears. He stepped closer to her. "I love you too, Fluttershy, and I'm so sorry fer what ah dun! Ah can't... I..."

"You bucked Pinkie Pie." Fluttershy growled with contempt.

Big Mac, for all his might, cowered like a frightened dog before Fluttershy, backing up to Rainbow Dash's hooves.

"You don't love me. You don't even love Pinkie.

"Big Mac. You hurt me bad. I thought I could trust you in my home, and you violated that trust. You were so selfish.

"You were all so selfish!" Fluttershy added.

Fluttershy's soft voice started to return, and her eyes slowly turned back to their usual sweet, and worried expression. "Um. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have shouted."

Big Mac heaved a sigh, and closed his eyes gently as a cacaphony of sorrowful apologies started to ring out behind him. He heaved a single sigh, and by the time he opened his eyes, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash were approaching Fluttershy to to hug her comfortingly.

Twilight and Applejack hung their heads and looked at Big Mac. Twilight was trembling. She looked up at Big Mac with sorrow, and Big Mac simply nodded, and said, "I know. I knew it weren't the real you." Tears drew down Twilight's cheeks.

Applejack grit her teeth. She was fighting back both rage and sorrow. She gave Twilight a baleful glare. "What did she do?" Applejack asked. Big Mac frowned at her, and Twilight covered her muzzle with both hooves and gasped at Applejack with shame.

Twilight pulled her hooves from her muzzle, and with an agonized expression started explaining herself. "I--"

Big Mac interrupted, "There'll be time 'nuff fer that. Ah know y'all came to say somethin'."

Applejack hung her head. "Big brother, ahm so sorry." She chuckled bitterly. "If ah could hug ya ah would."

Big Mac sat and sighed. He looked up first at the leaves of the nearby apple tree. He gathered a breath, trying to appreciate the beauty and simplicity that this place once held, and may soon hold again. With sadness, he turned his glance down to look at Fluttershy.

Fluttershy looked back. She had a pained, but resolute expression. He had thought that she was a sweet, delicate flower, but he realized now that she was filled with so much strength and wisdom.

He reached down, and gathered up the potion. He didn't need to look at it any more. He bit the cap off, and drank it down.

With a flash of light, the horse collar cracked and fell from his neck, sprinkling still glowing pieces of broken magic all over the grass around him.

Fluttershy gently slipped free of the hugs, consolations and apologies of her friends, and walked toward Big Mac.

She stepped forward, and hopefully, cautiously, reached out to gently touch his foreleg with her hoof.

There was no pleasure, except for the peace of knowing that Big Mac had made the right decision.

She held it there.